Proposed rule would require declaration of %DV for added sugars, and would establish a DRV of 10% of total calories from added sugars
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA or Agency)
has proposed
additional revisions to the Nutrition Facts panel for packaged
foods and the Supplement Facts panel for dietary supplements. Among
other things, the proposed rule, if finalized, would require
declaration of the percent daily value (%DV) for added sugars in a
product, and would establish a daily reference value (DRV) of 10
percent of total calories from added sugars. The Agency is
proposing to establish a DRV for added sugars of 50 grams (g) for
children 4 years of age and older and adults, and 25 g for children
1 through 3 years of age. The proposed rule is a supplement to the
March 3, 2014 proposed rule that suggested major changes to the
Nutrition Facts and Supplement Facts labels.
Click here for more information on FDA's
March 2014 proposed rule.
FDA is basing the added sugars %DV on the recommendation of the
2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) that the daily
intake of calories from added sugars should not exceed 10 percent
of total calories. In developing this recommendation, the DGAC
examined data which purportedly showed that it is difficult to meet
nutrient needs while staying within calorie requirements if one
exceeds 10 percent of total calories from added sugar.
In addition, the Agency is proposing footnote text for Nutrition
Facts and Supplement Facts labels to explain that the %DV conveys
how much a nutrient in a serving of food contributes to a daily
diet and that 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition
advice. However, FDA is proposing to exempt certain foods from the
footnote requirement, including foods that can use the terms
"calorie free," "free of calories," "no
calories," "zero calories," "without
calories," "trivial source of calories,"
"negligible source of calories," or "dietary
insignificant source of calories."
Finally, the Agency announced in the proposed rule that it is
releasing the results of its consumer studies on the declaration of
added sugars and the different footnote options FDA considered to
help consumers understand the percent daily value concept.
Beginning today, FDA is accepting public comments on the proposed
rule for 75 days. In addition, the Agency is reopening the
comment period on its March 2014 proposal for 60 days, solely to
obtain public comment on two consumer studies related to label
formats.
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